Avantia says home owners unwilling to invest in flood defence

According to Avantia, the public are unwilling to invest in flood defences, even when they have already experienced substantial losses, and prefer to leave it to insurers to pick up the tab.

Analysis by avantia found that just 28% of people applying to them for insurance, whose homes had been flooded, had put in place any form of flood defence.

Managing Director of avantia, David Walker believes that the insurance industry could do more to encourage and educate the public. “I know from personal experience and from the comments of our customers that many mainstream insurers refuse to offer improved or more favourable terms, even when homeowners do the responsible thing and invest in flood defences”.

“Yet this should be a potential win for everyone: the home owner should be able to find favourable terms whilst the insurer should be able to write more profitable business”.

“By way of illustration, a customer was flooded in 2003 when a nearby river burst its banks. She took exceptional preventative measures including the installation of airbrick covers, flood boards, raised concrete floor with sump pumps and non-return valves on drains. As a result, the property did not flood at all in the heavy rains of 2007. We were able to offer cover with a standard £1,000 excess for a previously flooded property. Had she not taken these measures, her excess would have been at least £15,000”.

Walker believes that more insurers would adopt a flexible approach if they had the systems to capture the data and respond online.

“Non-standard household insurance, such as for homes in flood-prone areas, accounts for around 15% of the home insurance market. We know from our own experience that with the right systems and processes in place, the vast majority of this can be written automatically, providing immediate online access to millions of people who were previously marginalised”.

A trade version of homeprotect was launched by avantia earlier this year following a successful pilot and is backed by various non-standard specialist underwriters. The platform helps trade partners to extend their underwriting and brand footprint through either direct Web access to homeprotect or through telephone transfers to avantia’s UK-based call centre.

Category: Home Insurance News, Insurance News